I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

"What is this child saying with such a relieved look on his face?!"

Natsukawa Masaki's lips twitched. Seeing her pat her chest in relief, he couldn't help but raise his voice:

"I haven't done anything wrong, why are you following me?"

"Uh, I don't think Xiao Liang has the right to criticize me?"

Yui Yuigahama tilted her head slightly, scratched her cheek with a slightly confused look, and said with a wry smile, "Besides, Ryo, you've already done all sorts of bad things, haven't you? It's normal for me to think that I was following you because I was afraid you would get in the way of Yuki and the others."

"You—" Natsukawa Masuzu gritted her teeth and glared at her innocent face, but in the end she couldn't say anything harsh. She could only kneel down on the ground with a face full of despair, like a super high school level JOJO fan who had been exposed.

"Damn it, I can't argue with that..."

"Well, don't worry about such a small thing." Yui Yuigahama quickly stepped forward to help her up, and affectionately hugged her arm. "We're teammates on the same side now, let's forget all the unpleasant things from the past and get along well!"

"Did you keep all the unpleasantness to yourself and only treat me as a superficial friend...?" Natsukawa Masaki said quietly.

"No, that's not true at all. I just want to be even better to you than before!" Yui Yuigahama quickly explained, then, as if remembering something, she couldn't help but smile happily.

"On another note, I'm really impressed with Xiaoliang! At first, I thought you would actually go in and interfere with Xiaoyou and the others' date, but I didn't expect you to leave in tears rather than let them know you followed us... It's so touching!"

"Don't make it sound so disgusting. I haven't done anything that deserves your praise... Speaking of which, haven't you never trusted me from the beginning?"

With a slightly nauseous expression, Natsukawa Masaki rubbed the goosebumps that had appeared on her arms and glanced sideways at Yuigahama Yui, who was grinning foolishly.

Suddenly realizing something, she couldn't help but look her up and down, asking with a strange look in her eyes, "Wait, Dango-chan... as his official girlfriend, you just let him go on dates with Yukinoshita, while you stand outside like a good-for-nothing like me watching?"

Before Yui Yuigahama could answer, Natsukawa Masuzu quickly turned her head and blurted out the guesses that kept popping up.

"It's Christmas Eve, a day for couples to go on dates and have sex. Not only did you not go with Yuu, but you even seemed to be protecting Yukinoshita... In other words, you gave him up? No, there's absolutely no need for that. Logically, you two would only celebrate Christmas Eve together, and even if you were going to have sex, you would probably do it together. There's only one reason you're here—"

Before she could finish speaking, Yuigahama Yui interrupted her.

"Hey, Xiao Liang, girls should try not to use the word '○○' all the time."

"Uh...sorry, it's just a habit."

"Then, you don't need to guess anymore, I'll just tell you directly!" Yui Yuigahama turned her head and said to her with a smile, "That's right, Yui is Yuki's today! She said she wanted to spend Christmas Eve with him. Although I agreed, I was still a little worried, so I followed behind and watched. They'll probably go back after they go into the apartment."

"Why is she..." Before the question could even leave her lips, Natsukawa Masuzu had already figured out the answer herself, "As expected, she wants to finish her 'mission' tonight, right?"

Yui Yuigahama didn't answer, but her expression was basically the same as her tacit agreement.

Trying to sort out her somewhat chaotic thoughts, Natsukawa Masuzu couldn't help but ask, "It's a bit late to ask now, but where does she get her confidence from... And Yui-chan, regardless of whether Yukinoshita succeeds in the end, a man and a woman who love each other spending Christmas Eve alone, anyone with a brain knows what will happen, right? Don't you mind that someone else beats him to it?"

"So you should use more elegant language..." Yui Yuigahama sighed helplessly, rubbing her forehead as if she had a headache, and then said nonchalantly, "Yeah, I don't care. As long as Yuki can achieve her goal, the process doesn't matter."

Natsukawa Masuzu's mouth was slightly open, as if she were looking at a completely unfamiliar person, unable to believe that this was Yuigahama Yui, whom she knew.

"...Wait, you didn't already taste the forbidden fruit with him before this, did you?!"

Just like how she wouldn't mind sharing a used curling iron with her best friend, that's why she seemed so indifferent...

"No, no, no, not yet! Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have the chance, so there's no way I can do it!" Yui Yuigahama argued, her face slightly flushed, and the force of her arm increased unconsciously, almost making Natsukawa Masuzu scream.

Even if a steamed bun is big and soft, it will still hurt if it is squeezed tightly... not to mention that there are things like trench coats and covers to block it.

With a slight twitch of her cheek, Natsukawa Masuzu managed to squeeze out a voice: "So... don't say you don't care. If you want to lie, at least come up with a good reason, okay?"

"..."

After a long silence, Yui Yuigahama gradually relaxed, and the smile on her lips faded.

"Yes, actually I care about it a lot."

She turned her head slightly, and although she couldn't see what was inside the supermarket, a warm and bright light still shone in her eyes.

"I really want to go up and talk to them right now, I really want to have a hot pot party with them, even if I really have to climb the adult stairs with Xiaoxue on Christmas Eve, I won't feel disgusted or wronged... If I have these thoughts, I'm probably already broken."

"But that doesn't matter."

Yui Yuigahama shrugged and looked away without hesitation, her eyes filled with a resolute gaze as the street stretched into the distance.

"Xiaoyou's happiness is my happiness, and what Xiaoxue wants to do is what I want to do, so I will support them unconditionally, that's all."

Even if she wasn't among them, it didn't matter, because she believed that the two people wouldn't abandon her alone.

Seeing her expression, Natsukawa Masuzu was dumbfounded and speechless for a while before shaking her head and saying, "...I really admire you all. You're all so willing to sacrifice yourselves for him. Why don't you form the 'Sky Crusade' to punish that damned 'god'?"

"Hehehe~" Yui Yuigahama smiled, as if to say, "You're the same way, and you still dare to talk about me like that," and affectionately rubbed her cheek against Yui's.

"Hopefully the gods live closer to Egypt than Egypt does, otherwise we'll have to wait until summer vacation to go and fight them."

"Before that, we need to figure out a way to surpass Heaven." After mentioning a few JOJO-related references, Natsukawa Masuzu contentedly steered the conversation back on track.

"You say that, Tuanzi-chan, but you're still feeling really bad inside, aren't you?"

"Yes, so are you going to comfort me?"

Yui Yuigahama tilted her head, her eyes sparkling as she looked at her, as if expecting something.

Natsukawa Masaki didn't hesitate for long. After taking a deep breath, she waved her hand forcefully as if she were going all out: "Alright, since we're both losers today, let's play together until tomorrow! We definitely won't lose to those two guys who just want to be all lovey-dovey and mess around all night!"

Yui Yuigahama also excitedly raised her hand, beaming as she shouted, "Great! Tonight's the girls' party time, let's have some fun! Yay—"

"But let me make this clear beforehand, I have virtually no experience with friends, let alone asking someone to stay overnight or letting them stay at my place. I have absolutely no idea what to do in this situation..." After first pouring cold water on her enthusiasm, Natsukawa Masuzu immediately suggested with great interest, "How about we have a special JoJo's Bizarre Adventure episode? We could watch all five anime series together and still not finish by tomorrow..."

"No, that would be too boring!" Yui Yuigahama decisively rejected her suggestion. After thinking for a moment, a brilliant idea suddenly flashed into her mind.

She couldn't help but clap her hands together, resting them on her chin, and chuckled softly.

"Hehe, why don't we just call Ms. Haruno and Ms. Asuna over together? That way we can talk about Yu all night long, and then we can surprise Yuki's house the next morning and scare them to death!"

"Hey, isn't this just torturing yourself...?"

Halfway through her rant, Natsukawa Masaki suddenly stopped, realizing something was off about her words.

"Wait, I can understand you inviting Haruno over... but what does this have to do with Yuuki-kun?"

"……what."

In the instant she realized what was happening, Yui Yuigahama froze on the spot, her face gradually turning ashen, as if she thought, "Oh no, I'm doomed, I'm doomed."

Then, Natsukawa Masuzu slowly opened her eyes wide, staring incredulously at her shifting gaze. After a moment, she spoke in an almost certain tone:

"Could it be that Asuna Yuuki is also..."

△

After leaving the supermarket, Yuuki Tenkuji and Yukino Yukinoshita each carried a shopping bag full of groceries and strolled slowly toward their luxury apartment.

On the way, Yuu Tenkuji suddenly broke the tacit silence maintained by the two of them, speaking casually:

"Yukino, can I ask you something?"

"What?" She turned her head in confusion, only to meet his helpless yet gentle gaze.

"The three-person Christmas party was a lie. Yui isn't actually coming, right?"

"..."

Chapter 179 Most importantly, I like you.

So close, his voice and eyes were so gentle that you wanted to immerse yourself in them and give up thinking in that warmth.

However, at this moment when her chest tightened, Yukino Yukinoshita suddenly dared not look at him, and bit her lip slightly, turning her gaze away.

"...When did you find out?"

She subconsciously pulled up her scarf as a cover, and the dull question she uttered seemed more like a way to change the subject than genuine curiosity.

After all, long before she made up her mind to do this, she knew she couldn't hide it from him for long—the person Yukino Yukinoshita liked wasn't stupid; on the contrary, his observation and logical reasoning abilities were much better than hers, and he could often see the big picture from small details.

In addition, just as she understood Yuuto Tenkuji, he also understood Yukino Yukinoshita.

The lies and secrets between the two were practically nonexistent.

So it's impossible for Tenkuji Yu not to see something so obvious; the only difference is the timing.

Even so, it was much earlier than Yukino Yukinoshita had expected, so much so that she didn't have time to prepare herself. It was like a boy who was secretly looking at the underwear of the person he liked, but the person suddenly scolded him loudly in front of the whole class. Shame completely overwhelmed his astonishment, and he didn't dare to look up and meet his gaze.

"I started to notice the signs from our conversation at noon, and after we finished shopping at the supermarket, I realized that Yui hadn't contacted me yet, so I was pretty sure."

Switching the shopping bag to her other hand, Yuu patted her small head, looked at her beautiful profile that seemed to be trying to appear calm, and smiled, saying:

"We're boyfriend and girlfriend, you're beating around the bush just to spend Christmas Eve with me, aren't you too shy?"

"...It has absolutely nothing to do with shyness. Any girl with a bit of shame wouldn't be able to say something like that."

With a sigh as if giving up on something, Yukino removed his hand from her head and casually glanced away: "Besides, after I'm being frank with you, how are you going to deal with Sora?"

"what……"

Yuu Tenkuji was taken aback, as he hadn't thought about this question in detail.

His girlfriend knew perfectly well that he hated lying and was especially honest with his sister.

As long as Kasugano Sora asks, and it's not something so important that it absolutely cannot be told, Tenkuji Yu will choose to tell the truth.

For example, in their conversation at the dinner table this morning, if Yukino Yukinoshita had sent him a message saying she wanted to spend Christmas Eve with him, then when asked where he was going that night, who he was going with, and what he was going to do, he would tell her directly without lying or making any excuses.

Firstly, it's an honesty about what he's used to about his younger sister; secondly, it's a sign of his respect and consideration for his girlfriend.

Even going on a date with his girlfriend requires secrecy. It's unavoidable in public, but at home, in front of his only family member, Yuuki Tenkuji doesn't want Yukino Yukinoshita to continue suffering this kind of humiliation.

It doesn't matter if you say he's making a fuss over nothing; anyway, his girlfriends all know that he's the kind of boyfriend who's both troublesome and contradictory.

...Of course, it's not hard for Yuu Tenkuji to imagine what would happen if Sora found out that he had spent the night alone with his girlfriend.

The hardships I experienced this morning were probably just an appetizer.

While it's not impossible to handle, it will likely take more effort than it does now to calm my sister down who's trying to be a third wheel.

Thinking about it this way, you can understand Yukino's good intentions.

Not only to cover up her shyness, but also considering his personality and situation, she deliberately used the lie she hated most and was least good at to lure him out, allowing him to spend the night away without any worries...

After fully realizing what had happened, Yuu Tenkuji couldn't help but take another look at the black-haired girl beside her.

As if her gaze had warmth, an alluring blush gradually rose on her delicate, white ears, and her calm and composed expression began to waver.

Before Yukino could say anything, Yuutokuji suddenly took a deep breath, and his expression changed.

"Yukino, you actually thought of me to this extent... That's amazing!"

His eyes were filled with tears, and his voice trembled slightly with emotion. He looked as if he wanted to hug her in the street, and he opened his arms and leaned in.